Changes
by rosenotrosie
Summary: Draco is sent to the St. Mungos and meets a murse named Ramon that gives him an answer to his problems and then it is taken away. Companion piece to Help, but can be read alone. DracoOC. Yaoi, boyxboy, slash. Complete with small epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, this is a _Help, Whether he Likes it or Not _(my other story, a Snarry) but it can be read as a stand alone piece. Tell me what you think :) .

Warnings: This is non-explicit yaoi, slash, boyxboy, whatever else it can be called. Don't like, don't read (the back button in the top left of the screen is there for a reason). Don't flame because I will report you, but I will gladly accept legitimate critiques (or complements and flattery (they make me work faster)). Also, there's a lot of cursing in the begining. Again, don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I own one copy of each book, except for the second, I own two of that because my dogs (one of whom also managed to lick a whole in the carpet, I kid you not) decided the second book smelled really good and ate the cover (again, I kid you not). However, I do not own Draco or any other Harry Potter series characters I choose to mention. I own Ramón, the actual doctor who makes a brief and fleeting appearance, and Cocoa Maroon who is in the second chapter.

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Draco was not having a good day. First, he gets sent into a battle; Draco, who just finished his sixth year, gets sent into a fucking battle like a lovely little chess piece. Draco to A5, please. Stupid Dumbledore. He assumed that Draco, with all the Dark Lord's training that he would have received had he taken the mark was fully capable of leading a successful charge against said Dark Lord. Wrong. Second, he gets sent into said battle with imbeciles. Said imbeciles try to pull a coup in the middle of said battle and try to get him killed. Which led to his third, fourth, and fifth issue; three, he's in the fucking hospital, four, it's St. Mungos and not Hogwarts, and, five, the various problems that led to him being here.

Five A, he now has fucking cat ears and a tail. If he ever finds out which person sent this particular curse across a battle field he personally vows to bitch slap them for their immense stupidity, shake their hand in thanks for not killing him and help them up, and then give them a taste of their own damn medicine and let them walk around with a fucking tail for a bit. Five B, his head was bleeding. A blasting curse barely missed him, hit the ground, and sent him flying into a fucking tree. Honestly, who has a fucking tree in the middle of their house? Five C, he was missing the bones in his right arm, aka his wand arm. Damn that fool Lockhart for bringing the public eye to that stupid, annoying charm. That idiot has now made Draco's list of people to bitch slap if he ever gets the chance; he's now in the company of what Draco has affectionately termed Cat-Guy, El Voldie del Moldie, Dumbledork, and Father Dearest, the person-all-blonde-stereotypes-are-based-on (Lockhart) should feel oh so lucky . Can we sympathize with Draco just a little now?

Draco was drawn out of his thoughts as the name he had given the receptionist was called. "Rey León, a doctor will see you now. Rey León." (Lion King in Spanish)

Draco walked up to the desk and followed the doctor back to a room with better lighting and a bed. The wizened doctor did a simple scan of Draco, nodded once, performed a charm that Draco felt close the wound on his head, pulled a bottle and cup out of his robes, poured a cup, returned the bottled to his robes, and placed the on a counter next to the bed and said, "Mr. León, you don't have a concussion and you need to drink this cup to regrow the bones in your arm. For the next week only wash your head using Muggle means, no magic, and the cat spell does not have a counter charm, but it only lasts for a week. If you have anything you need ask a nurse, he'll come in and check on you soon anyway. Good day." and then he left.

Draco laid down on the bed and was about to try a few spells to detect poison with his left arm (not his best idea as there was a high likelyhood of messing up the spell and, subsequently, the potion) when he heard a man with a Spanish accent say, "That's not your best idea, Mr.," he looked down to the chart in his hand, "Rey León. Oh, funny. So why are you lying about your name, Mr. León?"

Draco sighed, of course, he just has to get the Spanish murse (man-nurse), and answered while giving a patented Malfoy bored/dangerous glare, "Ese información es sólo para yo, no tú. Hay algo más lo que necesitas? (That information is only for me, not you. Is there anything else you need?)"

The Murse just smiled in spite of the glare and replied, "De acuerdo Señor Gatito,(Ok, Mr. Kitty,) I will do the poison detection spell that you were about to try, but you should know that with that particular potion any poisons that would kill you would also alter the color, the only ones that would not alter either the color or the taste are ones that might give you diarrhea or indigestion." He performed the spell that Draco was going to attempt and nothing happened. "That's all original potion Gatito (Kitty). Are you allergic to cats, Gatito?" Draco shook his head, while giving a death glare at the new nick name he had aquired. "Ok then," Murse handed him a paperclip, not that Draco knew what that was, from his robes, "if you have any problems just hold this to your mouth and call me. Me llamo Ramón. (My name is Ramón.) También, debes esperar hasta puedes despertarte (Also, you should wait until you are able to fall asleep) to take that because regrowing bones is a nasty process, Gatito." Damn that cheery, unaffected by glares man. He's now on the list; he will get his after Draco isn't in danger of getting a potion poisoned by him.

Ramón gave one last smile and walked away from the fuming patient and going into the hallway presumably to his next patient.

Draco had a restless sleep and certainly wasn't pleased when he woke up the next day to see that he had somehow developed retractable claws in the place of his fingernails. The reason he woke up though was a simply delectable scent was invading the room. He sat up and looked around noticing that everything appeared a bit brighter than before, but dismissing it by the simple fact that it was now daytime as opposed to night as it was when he first came in. The second thing he noticed was the source of the smell, a simple tuna sandwich and a cup of milk sitting on a small tray next to his bed. Eating this simple meal was almost orgasmic and unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Of course, Ramón walked into the room just as he was finishing with an inevitably stupid look on his face.

"Buenas dias, Gatito. Te duele esta mañana? (Good morning, Kitty. Is anything hurting you this morning?)"

Draco could barely focus on Ramón's words, despite them seeming louder than before, because of all the smells he brought with him. Ramón had a spicy/woodsy smell with a undertone of the smell of his sandwich. "Lo hiciste? (Did you make it?)"

Ramón raised one eyebrow in amusement and replied, "Sí, sabes que te pregunté antes, Gatito? (Yes, do you know what I asked you before, Kitty?)"

Draco tried to think back to a few seconds ago, but honestly could not remember so he made something up, "You asked about my name again?"

Ramón smiled again and said very slowly, "Is anything hurting you, Gatito?"

Draco almost imperceptibly blushed and replied, "No, but I seem to have become more cat-like than before. Puedes explicarlo por favor? (Can you explain that please?)"

Ramón sat on the bed and said, "The spell on you will make you become continuously more cat-like until the middle of the third day, which will probably be tomorrow night to early morning the next day." Ramón noticed Draco's eyes slipping closed as he started to take deeper breaths. Ramón assumed he was falling asleep, but he was actually basking in Ramón's scent; now that he was closer, it was much stronger. "Gatito, it's very rude to fall asleep while your doctor is explaining something."

Draco immediately sat up and again imperceptibly blushing while silently chastising himself for his show of emotions. Ramón, satisfied with Draco's reaction, continued where he had left off, "Becoming more cat-like includes heightened senses, smell and balance will probably be the most prevalent, but your vision, taste, hearing, and sensitivity to touch will also improve. In addition you'll probably take on a cat's temperament, whatever that may mean to you, and it appears that you've developed claws; you might get fur, but odds are your hair might just grow a bit faster. Understand."

Draco had reverted to his basking in the scent phase and had not heard anything past "claws." Ramón decided to use the knowledge that he had just attempted to impart on this cat man and, careful to avoid the stitches, reached silently over and scratched Draco's head. Draco had not noticed that Ramón had even stopped talking, much less that he was moving, so he was understandably shocked when he felt a hand on his head and that it was scratching him. He was even more flabbergasted at the amazing sensations coming from that simple action. He unconsciously pressed on the hand trying to get more out of the simple, fascinating feeling.

Ramón decided that he might have went a bit too far when the cat-man unknowingly started purring, so he softly said, "Gatito."

Draco responed with a stronger purr that normally would have come out as a "hmm?"

Ramón removed his hand and Draco opened his eyes, which now had slits like a cat's, and Ramón noticed the 'what the fuck?' look in them before saying, "I'm going to do my job now, pero si me necesitas sabes cómo llamarme. (, but if you need me you know how to call me.)" and escaped before the irrational cat man could kill him.

After Ramón left Draco went over the last half hour in his head. Why the fuck could he not control his emotions? Malfoys have always been kings of stoicism and control; how could he have let his emotions slip in front of such a plebeian? Using his newly restored wand arm, he created a false window in one of the walls in such a way that the light shined on the bed. Draco decided that the best way to deal with this lack of control based on his new felinity was to sleep it out, after all how could he embarrass himself if he was uconscious?

Ramón smiled at the scene in front of him when he returned to Draco's room a few hours later. Draco was curled up on his bed in a patch of sunlight and his hair had grown at least three inches from its position around his ears down to his chin this morning to around his chin to shoulders about five hours later. Though Ramón didn't realize it this was the moment when Ramón fell in love with Draco. Ramón placed the arrogant man's tray down on the table next to the bed and reached over to shake him awake to eat lunch (fish and chips). As soon as Ramón's hand touched Draco's side, Draco purred again and moved towards the hand. Ramón was surprised at such an automatic reaction, but quickly got over his shock and continued to shake the cat man and was only lightly terrified when he got the coldest most hate filled look he had ever seen the blond cat-man in front of him.

"Remove your hand from my shoulder if you desire to keep it attached to your arm." Draco stated in a calm voice.

Ramón took the irate cat-man's advice and then chirped, "Lunch has arrived." while placing a cheerful smile, that Draco was soon coming to realize was fake, carefully on his face.

Draco sighed and the hate became indifference as he looked at the bag Ramón's hand. Fish and chips in brown bag and appeared to be soaking it through in patches with grease. Draco swore he would go to the fanciest restaurant he could find once he left this hellhole and have a refined dinner, until then he'd eat the plebeian food with a smile because he had no doubt that it was far better than any hospital food he'd ever be offered. "Gracias. (Thank you.)"

Ramón's smile became more natural, and shrunk a bit, as he said, "De nada (You're welcome)." before turning to leave.

A thought crossed Draco's head and he decided to indulge in his curiosity (later he would swear that it was because of his condition) and he asked, "Why are you bringing me food?" Ramón turned around, obviously looking a bit uncomfortable with the situation, and Draco decided to expand a bit, "I mean, you don't know me and I'm sure that you have many other patients. So why me?"

Ramón cleared his throat and the fake smile returned, "I like to see the changes accompanied with this spell, Gatito. It gives me a chance to stalk you a bit." A wink accompanied that statement, but Draco grew up with liars and there was almost no one who could lie to him.

Draco finished the fry he was eating (he wouldn't make a fool of himself again with the fish) and said, "Mentiroso. No tienes que decirme, pero por favor de no me mientas. (Liar. You don't have to tell me, but please don't lie to me.)"

Ramón briefly looks angry as Draco eats another fry but simply turns and leaves the room, presumably to go back to his other patients that he was neglecting by getting Draco food.

Later that night Draco was watching the muggle tele they have set up in the room after having eaten the hospital food for dinner and Ramón walks in. Draco's attention only shifts from the tele to him as he sits on the bed by Draco's feet. One of the first things Draco notices is that Ramón is no longer in murse's robes, he's in muggle wear. Slightly tight blue jeans, a gray tee, and light tan jacket make up his clothing, but the thing that Draco really notices is all the silver piercings in his ears and eyebrows. Draco tries to count them in his head and sees three total on his eyebrows and at least ten on each ear; Draco concludes that Ramón is either excessively brave, excessively stupid, or excessively well liked because all it would take to cause serious harm with all those piercings is a simple accio.

Draco draws his eyes away from all the silver when Ramón clears his throat. Draco looks at Ramón's face, but Ramón refuses to make eye contact as he started to speak in light tones. "I'm sorry I lied today, pero no debes preguntarme (but you shouldn't ask me) about my problems. You probably don't really care about them and I don't want to talk to someone who doesn't care about them."

Draco was surprised in the drastic change that the man had made from the day before to that night and he realized that he wanted someone to talk to as well. This man was obviously not from this country and still didn't realize who he was despite his relatively famous family looks so Draco was almost able to spill his guts to this man.

He was involved in a war. He couldn't trust anyone, because anyone could turn around and kill him and death was simply not an option right now.

Draco sighed and rationalized with himself, he would listen to Ramón's problems, but Draco would only talk about things before the Dark Lord had returned. It didn't matter if the other side was to learn that his favorite color as a child had been emerald green and that his favorite flavor of ice cream was the pistachio; what would they try and do, lure him into a trap with ice cream?

"I do care. In the hellhole that has recently swallowed my life, I think I want to talk about someone else's problems for once." Draco said, before giving the obviously depressed murse a small smile.

The murse smiled in return and started, "I am the youngest nurse here and no one seems to respect me. I was home schooled and then I finished the training to be a nurse and was happy. I was sixteen and already out of my parent's house and fully educated. Then I got this place and they made me work in the emergency unit. I hate it there. I hate seeing what people do to each other in this war all of England seems to be involved in. You were definitely one of the nicer cases I had seen and initially I did volunteer to take you because you were the cat-man. It was nice to know that someone in this war had a sense of humor despite all the fighting.

"Then I saw you for what you were; a very lonely person. Very angry, very cold, and very strong, but very lonely. You didn't get any visitors, which seemed odd to me because anyone who comes in with serious injuries lately seems to be visited by hordes of people that, while they always looked like different people, they always had the same voices and first names. So I decided to look after the little Gatito if only to pull myself out of the horror that results from working in this hellhole." Ramón said all this as if he was admitting to his parents that, yes, it was him who'd eaten all the cookie before dinner.

That miffed Draco a bit and resulted in an inquiry, "Why do you stay if you hate it here so much? I mean, there has to another, smaller hospital somewhere."

Ramón moved his gaze from the sheets on Draco's bed to the wall, "My parents want so badly to be proud of me. They would have died had I not taken the most prestigious position offered to me." A bitter smile graced his face, "When I got my certificate my father told me, 'Por qué todavía estás aquí, (Why are you still here,) go get a job. Por qué estás orgulloso, es sólo una hoja de papel. (Why are you proud, it's only a piece of paper.) Haz algo con la, (Do something with it,) then you can be proud.' He was such a pendejo. All he and my mother ever cared about was making our family look good. They were so false that it sickened me, but I loved them and so I tried to please them."

Draco decided that family was something he could talk about without putting himself in danger and accordingly said, "My family was similar in the pressure to always look good. My parents were never truly affectionate with me, but we all understood each other and we all believed that family was the most important thing. It hurt like hell to leave them, but I had to at a certain point. You can't live for your family Ramón, at the rate you're going, you'll commit suicide just to escape their influence." Draco didn't know how he knew that that last statement was true, but he just could feel that it was. That seemed to be happening more often lately and it disturbed him at first, until it saved people's live.

Ramón finally met his eyes and said, "I thought about it. Decided against it obviously, but still..." Ramón gave him a real smile and said, "Thanks, Gatito. See you tomorrow."

Draco thought of Ramón before falling asleep that night. He rarely opened up or even talked to anyone so the experience was novel for him. He hoped that he had helped the initially annoying Spaniard and he sincerely hoped that the Spaniard would listen to his advice. He eventually thought about himself as well because of something Ramón had said, "I hate seeing what people do to each other in this war all of England seems to be involved in." Draco could move to France (a bit nonsensical since he had refused to learn French as a child and continued to know nothing more than Bon jour) or he could move to Spain or Germany or Italy or, hell, even the Americas. Draco could leave. People simply did not care about this war in other countries and that would be a real blessing for Draco. He could move away and then write to his parents and somehow get their forgiveness. Draco slowly started to make plans, initially to amuse himself, but then they somehow became real. He could leave after his ears disappeared (he could hide a tail), go to Gringotts, withdraw all the money under his name, and leave the country in that day. He just needed to live out that one day. Draco fell asleep with a smile that night.

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This chapter was posted on 6-1-08.


	2. Chapter 2

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AN: Sorry it's so short, but I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out. This is the final chapter and epilogue all in one. Thanks to the two of you who reviewed and just so we all know, this is the end of the all things involving Help.

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Part Two and Epilogue

_Recap: Draco slowly started to make plans, initially to amuse himself, but then they somehow became real. He could leave after his ears disappeared (he could hide a tail), go to Gringotts, withdraw all the money under his name, and leave the country in that day. He just needed to live out that one day. Draco fell asleep with a smile that night._

Draco awoke the next morning and, again, something had changed. This time it wasn't simply his nails, though they had certainly gotten in the way while changing his clothing, it was his tongue. It was a weird feeling to wake up to; it was like something in his mouth was missing just because his tongue had gotten flatter and scratchier. As Draco was exploring his mouth with this new tongue of his he grazed it over his teeth and (although this is just his word) almost sliced his tongue open. It seemed that in the middle of the night Draco had developed fangs!

As Draco was feeling his new teeth with his new tongue Ramón happened to walk in with a tray. A small smile appeared on the otherwise very tired and drawn visage of the murse as Draco immediately closed his mouth and silently damned his pale skin (not that he was blushing of course). Then Ramón began to speak after putting the tray down and Draco was mesmerized by the cadence of his voice, so much so that he did not pay any attention at all to the actual words and let his mind just go with the flow and take him down the proverbial babbling brook that was Ramón's voice.

After asking a question, it matters not what it was, roughly seven times, Ramón decided that he needed to get Draco's attention. He had been whispering before because he knew that Draco's hearing would be much better than it previously was, but he decided to risk aggravating the overgrown cat by clearing his throat. While this action was normally annoying but not too terrible, it actually caused Draco to jump as his hands automatically flew up to cover his apparently painfully oversensitive ears.

Now that he had Draco's attention Ramón began again in a slightly louder whisper, "Gatito, we put a silencing charm on your room last night because we thought this might happen." Draco gave Ramón a curious look that was so cat-like it was uncanny before Ramón answered the silently asked question, "We thought that your hearing would become much better and might actually become painful. I'm whispering right now as a result. Pensábamos que tús ojos podían ser (We thought your eyes could become) even more sensitive y por eso hicimos (and so we made) the curtain fabric a little thicker. Te duelen los ojos o los anteojos? (Are your eyes or ears hurting you?)"

Draco shook his head and was now staring at the bag as if it contained the Holy Grail itself. Ramón barely held in a giggle as he sat on the bed and opened the bag to pull out two styrofoam boxes. Draco's eyes stayed trained on the first box and it was clear that he was forcing himself to not just reach out and take the box. Ramón silently gave that box to Draco and then opened the second for himself. Draco was pleased to see that his held two fish tacos and he didn't even really notice Ramón eating his two enchiladas that the other box held.

After finishing the tacos Draco automatically began to lick all the remnants of food off of his hands but stopped when he heard a laugh. He looked up and saw Ramón covering his mouth with his hand to literally hold in his laughter. Draco quickly dropped his hands to his lap and placed an indifferent look on his face.

Ramón stood and scratched behind Draco's ear before turning and saying, "Don't hide how you feel, Gatito. You're adorable." He walked out and Draco brought his hand back up to his mouth then his head appeared in the door and he said, "I'll be back for lunch."

Draco watched Ramón laugh as he walked past the door but did not hear him as the silencing ward was very effective. Draco watched the muggle television (coming to the conclusion that they were all idiots) until Ramón returned to the room just after one o'clock this time with both a grocery bag and a cat in his arms. Draco's attention was instantly drawn to the cat but not in a lets-be-friends way, more in the whachu-doin-in-my-territory-biotch way and when their slitted eyes met they both released a hiss. Ramón froze in his steps when this happened as if he just realized that he had forced two cats who both had laid a claim on him into the same room without considering that they may both be very dominating males. If Draco had been paying attention to Ramón he would have seen the, "oh shit" cross his mind.

Ramon placed the grocery bag on the table and sat down on the bed still holding the other cat in his arms. Ramón watched the two cats try and stare each other down before deciding to do something. "Draco," Draco emitted a grunt to acknowledge Ramón, "this is Cocoa Maroon. I thought you might want some company so I borrowed my roommate's cat. As your attention slips away from me back to him I'm thinking that this was a really bad idea, but you are not paying any attention anymore so it would probably come as a shock if I was to throw him at you and run. Still nothing, ok, you asked for it." Ramón did exactly like he had said and quickly left the room hearing nothing but hissing and scratching as he ran.

Draco was completely shocked when Ramón threw the cat at him (he had not heard anything past "company") and had tried to bat off the irate feline. Said feline got a swipe at his face, drew blood and then dropped to the floor where it tried to speak with Draco and, amazingly enough, he understood.

_Stay away from my human you idiot! _Cocoa Maroon hissed and to Draco it all sound much like humans except Cocoa had an almost German breathy accent.

Draco decided to be a more rational cat (he could body bind and silence the cat if this didn't work out and say it was accidental magic anyway) and tried to explain, _I'm not close to Ramón. He's all yours. Stop trying to kill me! _The last part was not part of the original plan but it just happened to come out and Draco had been thinking it anyway.

Cocoa sat down at this and replied, _Why has he been smelling like you all week then?_

Draco rolled his eyes at the overprotective cat and replied, _He's been bringing me food and treating my injuries. I have laid no claim on him._

Cocoa Maroon turned his head slightly to one side and asked, _Why does he dream of you then? _

Draco's eyebrows shot into his bangs (and out of sight) and he sputtered out,_ How-- How would you know that?_

Though the cat was incapable of smiling in the human sense of the word, Draco somehow understood that he was doing the feline version of it as he put on an air of innocence and replied, _Didn't you know? (unnecessarily long pause) All cats are psychic. We see what you want before you know that you want it and we know what your greatest fantasies are before you think them. On occasion we pick a fantasy and bring it forward to your notice and thus we are one of the current forms of what you humans call "muses." You, my dear Draco, (Draco gasps), have been the current subject of his unconscious dreams. Cocoa pauses for Draco to take in this information or because he is a cat and is thusly insane and then continues, I have taken a liking to you, human. Would you like me to make Ramón aware of his desire for you?_

Draco sat in both shock and contemplation for a whole minute before giving an answer to the feline's question.

_No._

The cat is obviously not surprised; he could see all the thoughts pass through Draco's head, he could see Draco evaluate his own feelings and decide that he was attracted to Ramón, he could see the short fantasy of a family with Ramón, he also saw Draco thinking about how the Dark Lord would try to destroy Ramón if he got involved with a traitor such as Draco and that was what truly turned Draco to his decision to not have the cat make Ramón aware of his dormant feelings. Draco passed the next two days talking and growing close to Ramón and really starting to fall for the young man. Draco was starting to pack his bags after dinner on his last night there when his mother entered the room.

The silence ward had been dropped and so he actually heard someone walk in and he looked up expecting to see a doctor or a polyjuiced Order member, instead he saw his mother looking the worst he'd ever seen her look. They started at each other for a few seconds and Draco observed the oddities in his mother's appearance. She was not wearing any make-up, her hair was mussed, her clothes were disheveled, and her eyes, while not puffy, were rimmed in red. The simple fact that something was wrong was further evidenced by the tone in which Narcissa began to speak. "Draco," his mother's voice cracked on this one word and Draco felt far more affection towards the woman than he had felt in his previous sixteen years of life, "Draco, I have some terrible news." She took a breath to steady her weary form, "Lucius is dead."

Draco felt a flood of sadness and anger and guilt overtake him at those three words. His father was dead. It didn't matter who exactly did it, Draco knew that it had happened because he had convinced his father to continue to spy for Dumbledore as Voldemort's right hand man. The job that his father had taken to appease his son had gotten him killed. Damn Voldemort. Draco swore on his father's soon to be grave that he would now do everything in his power to assure that the madman's reign would come to an end. Draco's thoughts were broken when his mother continued, "Potter killed him during a battle a few hours ago."

Draco looked his mother in the eye and said, "You and I both know that it's not Potter's fault that father's dead. This war stole his life and thus father's blood lies on Voldemort's hands. You know that as well as I do, Mother. I'll come over tomorrow morning and adjust the wards to keep out anyone with a dark mark tomorrow but stay with me tonight."

Narcissa backed away from Draco hugging herself fraily, "The Dark Lord is not at fault here. If that damn Potter boy hadn't driven him insane and just died like everyone else we wouldn't be fighting now. You weren't there in the beginning Draco, you didn't see the genius behind the Dark Lord's early ideas. He was going to make a wizarding utopia, Draco. The fault here does not lie with the Dark Lord it lies with Potter and Dumbledore and I cannot support anyone who supports them anymore... Including you my Dragon."

Draco was shocked at his mother's choice but managed to stutter out, "I'm s-sorry you feel that way Mother."

Narcissa's eyes grew cold, but filled with tears as she replied, "I suppose that I will move in with Bellatrix, Lord Malfoy. I will have vacated the Manor by sun up."

Draco's face was a vision of practiced apathy as he said, "If you feel it is necessary..."

"I do. Good night, Lord Malfoy."

Draco's voice broke just a bit as he said, "Good night, Mother."

Draco left the next day promising to keep in touch with Ramón through mail and he had naturally forsaken his plans to flee the country in favor of plans for vengeance. Draco wrote to Ramón when he got a chance between school, extra training, managing the Malfoy estates, and the occasional fighting. They grew closer despite the distance and they agreed to meet outside of the hospital about a month after the end of Draco's seventh year. However, things did not go quite as planned and Ramón saw Draco about a month earlier when he was on the team of healers that responded to the final battle.

The last thing that Draco remembered was seeing Potter connect their two wands and then pulling out a second and casting a spell that produced a white flash to cover the entire field where the fighting was taking place. Draco awoke later (he had no idea how much time had passed) and he saw Ramón kneeling next to him with a wand drawn.

Draco coughed out, "R-Ramón?"

Ramón smiled at the man laying on the ground in front of him and replied, "Sí, Gatito?(Yes, Gatito?)"

Draco only asked the first question that came to mind, "I'm alive right?"

Ramón's smile got larger as he replied, "Sí, Gatito, vivas. (Yes, Gatito, you're alive.)"

Draco only had one more question he desperately needed answered, "Voldemort's dead?"

Ramón nodded and replied, "According to Mr. Potter the world is permanently rid of him."

Draco, who was still a little out of sorts, only had one more question that, despite it being told as a funny story years and years later, he would never regret asking, "Come away with me?"

Ramón got a confused look on his face and uttered a highly intelligent response, "Qué? (Whah?)"

Draco's eyes got a sparkle in them that very few had ever seen before and he said, "Come away with me. Let's leave all the misery and sorrow of England and just go away for awhile."

Ramón resisted the urge to laugh as he replied, "I don't even know your name--"

"My name is Draco Malfoy. I am not trusted by either side, I just graduated from Hogwarts a week ago, and I want to take the one person I consider to be a friend and not an enemy or parental figure with me when I leave this mess that England has gotten itself into. Ven conmigo, por favor (Come with me, please)." Draco was practically begging by the time he reached the end of that little speech, but he did so without regret because he knew that he was talking to the one of the only two people he'd consider trusting with his life and he wanted to keep him with him and, God Dammit, he was a Malfoy and he would get what he wanted.

Ramón stood and offered Draco a hand to stand as well before pulling him up. "Mira (Look). In about an hour half of the people on this field will be moved to a morgue to wait for someone to claim their body. Another quarter will be brought to the ministry to await punishment for their crimes. The last quarter will drag themselves home to try and drown their sorrows only later being grateful that they survived. Do you have no one to mourn Draco? How is it that in all these people there is no one that you think of when awakening?"

Draco was surprised that the deaths tolls had mounted so high but that was all it was to Draco, numbers. He knew most of these people by name but he also knew that half of them were instructed to kill him on sight and the other half were instructed to watch for any signs of treachery. The only other person Draco trusted and cared for was Severus Snape but he knew that the man was alive; he had been like a second father to Draco and he just knew that Severus was alive. He voiced this to Ramón and all he said in response was, "One person." Draco didn't know what to make of that response but all he did was nod.

After another break Ramón spoke up again, "I want you to speak with this Severus and then contact me and tell me when we will be leaving."

Draco smiled at the response and hugged his friend in an out of place happy gesture for such a depressing scene. Draco talked for quite a while with his Godfather before leaving on a three month trip with Ramón to travel Europe. About halfway through the trip Draco thought he saw a very familiar cat and was not all that surprised when things were awkward the next day as Ramón kept blushing every time he looked at Draco. By dinner that day Draco simply couldn't take it anymore and pulled Ramón into an almost brutal kiss that left them both breathless. The new couple finished their tour where it began with them placing flowers on the massive remembrance stone that had been set in the field to remember both sides of the battle and to remind people of the senseless loss of life. Shortly after that they briefly stayed in Malfoy Manor before getting engaged and moving to Spain. They were married in December and had their first child, Elmira, the next March. They devotedly kept in contact with Severus but other than that lived mostly in their own little world with their daughter. Elmira went to a school in Spain much like Hogwarts (Severus no longer taught at Hogwarts so there was no reason to send her there) and their marriage was a bit strained at first due to the lack of a daughter to fawn over, but they recovered and stayed married for the next fifty years. Unfortunately, as they were taking a walk one morning through a Spanish market, one Delores Avery aimed for Draco and hit Ramón with an Avada Kedavra killing him instantly. In a fit of rage Draco killed Delores before carrying his husband's body home and writing a letter to Elmira, who had not adopted her fathers' outcast behaviors, in which he told her that they loved her very much, would continue to love her for as long as she lived, and would support her in any decisions she made. He then wrote a very brief letter in which he bestowed everything he had in this world on Elmira and some treasured items on Severus.

Draco died roughly three hours and seventeen minutes after his husband and left the world ready to die. There was a small funeral attended by Elmira and the parts of the Snape-Potter brood who had known and loved him after which they scattered both of their ashes together on the wind to float throughout the world until they disappeared forever.

FIN

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This chapter posted on 6-10-08.


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